The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to a printing machine for seamless textiles and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to a digital ink jet printing machine for such seamless textiles.
Seamless textiles are textiles ready made into tube shapes so that there is no need to add a seam down the side when making a garment. Instead of connecting two ends together to make a closed side the textile is initially manufactured as a tube. The tubes are particularly in demand for use in women's underwear that is intended for wearing underneath tight clothing. Conventional underwear has seams which can be visible as protruding lines through the tight clothing and such protrusions are considered unsightly. Seamless underwear based on textile tubes is probably the most comfortable of a number of solutions marketed to deal with the problem.
Of course seamless textiles are not restricted to underwear but may be used for other kinds of garments as well. Unfortunately however tube fabrics are difficult to print on a textile printer. It is possible to place the item to be printed, either in tube form or as the finished underwear or clothing, on a tray of the kind used for printing a tee-shirt and such an arrangement can be used to print a picture or a slogan on one side. The item may then be reversed for printing on the other side if desired. However it is not possible to print all around the tube or provide an image or pattern that is continuous around the tube.